Don't Cheapen Yourself

You look sleazy tonight ma said. Cheap, I said. I’m doin cheap. You got any idea how much it costs to do cheap these days? To do gold City of Paris three-inch platform sandals and this I. Magnin snake dress? I’m doin cheap. You look like a bird, she said a Halloween bird with red waxed lips. —In high school you could either do cheap or Shakespeare, college prep or a pointy bra, ratting a bubble haircut with a toilet brush. I was not allowed to do high school cheap; I did blazers and wool skirts from the Junior League thrift shop. In high school it was don’t walk in the middle of Richie, Leelee, and the baby, you might come between them. You look like a skag wearin that black-eyed makeup, people are gunna think you’re cheap. While I poured red food dye on my hair to match my filly’s tail for the rodeo, ma beat her head against the wall, she said tryin to make me nice. I tried real hard, but the loggers, the Navy guys, they always hit on me. Cause you’re an easy mark, ma said. And I played guilty, I played guilty every time. But now, I said now I’m doin cheap.